Dark Horse
by TechnicolorNoize
Summary: Ronnie Creeker has met his match when it comes to Syd James, who he finds out is not a man encroaching on his territory but actually a slender girl named Sydney who begins to strike something in him with each chance encounter.


Author's Note: This is going to be a very short series about Ronnie because he is my favorite. I suspect it will be about a three-shot, but it might be a four-shot. Anyways Thank you and I hope you enjoy. Disclaimer as always, I own nothing.

* * *

Ronnie Creeker was the definition of bad influence, part time drug dealer full time asshole; he was someone that no one wanted to be around for very long. Ronnie associated with select people, from more social circles than anyone cared to admit, but he was often with his group of local hoodlums or with his family. Sydney James was none of these things, yet here this young man stood, leaned against her Jeep smirking like the little devil she always expected him to be.

Sydney James was the quiet girl who most mistook for a stoner in school, she was often sitting in the back of the classrooms or alone at lunch; napping or drawing small little sketches in the margins of her notes. She coasted by on mediocre grades though both her teachers and her parents knew she could do better, but no one pushed her to work any harder so she remained unmotivated.

She held her books to her chest as she approached the older boy who took it upon himself to post himself outside of her vehicle and only way out of the hell of school. She kept her eyes down as she approached him, trying not to focus on the fact that his muddy boot was probably leaving a mark on her side panel. She glanced up to meet his gaze as she followed it she realized he was looking her body up and down, treating her like nothing more than any other female body at Pretty Lake High. She pulled her keys out of her bag and stuck them in the door of the older model Jeep as he pushed himself off the metal frame.

"Syd?" His voice was not as gruff as she expected when he seemed to question her name. "Are you Syd James?" He asked as she pulled open the door a loud squeak emanating from the hinge. His tone almost seemed surprised as she set her books in the driver seat of the car as she pulled the strap of her bag over her head to free it from her body.

"Last I checked," she stated as she tossed her bag into the passenger side floor board. "Why?" She asked as she watched him walk around from in front of the door too the back door on the drivers side.

Ronnie took up his old residence of leaning on her car, this time his shoulder seemed to be digging into window of her Jeep. "I was..." His voice seemed to trail off, he seemed to still be confused about her appearance. He probably like most pictured someone names Syd to be a tough muscle bound bad boy not a slender girl without an ounce of muscle on her body. "I think I've been played." He muttered as his eyes seemed to bounce up and down her body one more time.

"Well as interesting as that is, if you could get off my car I can be on my way and you can go deal with whoever it is that is playing with you." She said as she picked up her books and reached to place them in passenger side seat. She stood up straight as she noticed his eyes focused on her lower half as she had leaned over to far side of her vehicle. "So if you don't mind." She stated so plainly that it almost made Ronnie mad.

He had been told by one of his buyers that someone else was spreading around some killer marijuana and that if Ronnie wanted to keep his business he would need to lower his price. He cut the boy a deal the once but next time he would be paying double and receive a black eye during the transaction. Ronnie had never heard the name Syd James when the boy told him the name, thinking it was honestly a younger boy approaching in on his turf. However to be greeted by this slender blonde girl wearing tight jeans and a long patterned red sweater. The more he thought the situation through, the more annoyed he found himself growing.

He pushed himself off the old beat up car and raised his hands up. "Of course, don't let me get in your way." He asked as she climbed into the Jeep, though he found himself stepping in and blocking her from closing the door of the car to make her full escape. "But, if I'm not being played just know, this school, hell this entire fucking town is my territory and if you are getting any ideas just..." Ronnie Creeker had the nerve to threaten her. The other Creeker's were never this blunt and disrespectful, Tracey and Pat, they were both rough around the edges but they were never as broken as Ronnie.

"Let me just stop you there. I don't know what you are talking about, but do I honestly look like I would like I am going to be successfully taking anyone's territory? Why don't you quit while you are ahead and just accept the fact that someone played you like the idiot you are and leave me alone." She stated turning the key in the ignition and listening as the engine growled to life. With that comment said, Syd knew it would go one of two ways, he would back down or he would explode. With a pursed lip and a raised eye brow Syd watched as Ronnie raised his hands and backed away from the door pushing it closed for her as he began to walk away from her vehicle. She pulled out of her parking spot, but as she glanced in her rear view she saw the distinct look of hatred in his eyes.

* * *

Sydney had a dark secret, that she hid from her parents and her brother. She sat outside in the parking lot of the gas station in her Jeep scrolling through her newsfeed on Facebook. One of her brothers friends came smiling out of the gas station and came straight to her Jeep climbing in through the passenger's side door. "Two packs of Camel Menthols, kid." He said as he set them in her lap. She handed him some cash she had folded up and quickly stashed the two packs in her center console. "Why don't you just ask Mike to get them for you?" He asked curiously. Syd just set a glare in his direction as a response. "Sorry, I forget no questions asked." He said with a devious little smirk that almost made Sydney crack a smile. He opened the door and climbed back out, pausing for a moment as she waited for him to slam the door back shut. "You know you can call me for more than just an ID right?" He asked almost with a concerned tone. "Just with Mike leaving, I just if you..." He had put himself into a situation he couldn't easily talk his way out of.

"Yeah, thanks." She said simply stopping him from digging himself any deeper into an awkward situation, with that the boy closed the door and walked towards his car parked a few spots down with the rest of the contents of his bag of purchases from the gas station. She dug into her console for the last of her old pack of cigarettes pulling one out and sticking the end between her lips. She thought she had left her lighter in there as well but as she dug through the junk that seemed to accumulate in her console. The unlit cigarette hung between her lips as she closed the console and reached around to the backseat to grab her bag thinking maybe she had tossed it in there, it was a shock when the passenger side door opened and closed quickly as another body appeared next to her. She jumped at the surprised of the sudden guest in her Jeep. "What the hell?" She found herself barking as the body next to her seemed to lock the door.

As the cigarette hung from her mouth she was greeted by Ronnie Creeker's devilish smile. "You should really lock your doors." He said as he grinned at her as he reached over and pulled the cigarette from her lips.

"Never pictured a need too in Pretty Lake," she said still fighting off the shock of his presence.

He put the cigarette to his lips and pulled a lighter out of his pocket to light it. "You know these things will kill you." He said as he lit the cigarette inhaling deeply as he did.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She asked her annoyance growing by the second hitting its peak as he exhaled the smoke with a smirk that made her want to scream out in frustration.

"Hiding out from some lowlifes," She couldn't tell if he was being honest or if he was joking, as he took another drag of her cigarette.

"I thought you were the lowlife in town." She said as she reached out to try to take the cigarette from him. He pulled it away from her and exhaled the smoke coming out of his lips like he was daring her to challenge him again.

"Well I had to learn it somewhere." He grinned at her, the way the corner of his mouth pulled up caught her off guard, she never imagined Ronnie Creeker could look attractive to anyone aside from perhaps hard drug addicts yet in that moment he had this charm that made her blush at the thoughts that rushed through her head.

He must have noticed her silence and quick turn of her head to hide the faint color coming to her cheeks because he held her cigarette out for her as she quickly took it into her fingers and pulled a long and needed drag from it. "Once they get out of here I can make it back to my truck. Next pack is on me for the help, deal?" He asked as she exhaled nodding slightly while trying to ignore her mind for thinking of how the cigarette had been in both there mouths and how badly she had wanted his devilish lips to brush against hers just moments ago. "Sorry, you know about the thing at the school." He said filling the silence that she hadn't noticed growing between them as she tried her best to silence her racing thoughts. "They said some guy named something James was selling some good shit and cheaper than me and I found out about a Sid and assumed..."

"It's fine." Syd interrupted his words silencing both him and her thoughts. She paused for a moment, debating whether she should confess her secret to him or not. "There is a guy named Michael James, Mike, he supposedly got out of that business though." She tried to keep her voice level trying to portray nonchalant as best she could manage. "He's my brother."

"Well then if the rumors are true sounds like you have more to deal with than I do." Ronnie said looking out the back window of the Jeep, watching for the people he was hiding from to leave.

She took a long drag off of her cigarette letting the warmth fill her lungs. "You're probably right." She said as she exhaled, looking out her window into the mirror watching as a small white car drove away.

* * *

"We are terribly sorry about your loss, I can't imagine what your family is going through." Sidney listened to yet another nameless face tell her as she stood in the lobby of the funeral home. Mike had been home for two weeks, he had gotten back into his old dealings taunting his old demons before falling victim to one of them. They said he was under the influence at the time of death, that their family should be thankful that he had only injured himself in the crash on the highway leading out of Pretty Lake, however Syd found very little to be thankful for in those moments.

"Thank you, please excuse me for a moment." Sydney replied back to the woman who was clearly at the visitation just to see who all would show up to the young man's remembrance. Sydney tried her best to just brush past anyone she encountered on her way out the front door of the building, wishing for nothing more than a moment of the cool fresh air to fill her lungs and wash over her. She was past crying, past the sadness over his death, she simply wished all of this to be over so she could begin to experience what life would be like now that he wasn't there.

She found an open bench just off the stoop of the funeral home that seemed to be calling her name. She sat down on the cool wooden surface straightening out her dress as she did, knowing she should have grabbed her sweater from the coat rack before heading out into the chilly air. "Sydney," the sound of her name catching her attention distracting her from the chill running over her skin for a moment. "I'm sorry about your brother." It was a woman about her mom's age, Tracy Creeker standing just behind her. "Is your mother inside?" She asked sounding the most sincere out of all of the people Sydney had spoken too this evening.

"She's in the chapel, has been for most of the day." Sydney responded looking up to the women in front of her.

"Don't stay out here too long dear, its suppose to get quite chilly tonight." The woman's earnest smile had been a mirror image on her daughter as they excused themselves to head towards the door, a young man walking up to meet them as they did. He opened the door and held it for the two women, following them inside just to exit back out of it moments later. Sydney looked away from the people coming and going and out to the road that lay in front of the funeral home.

The bench she was sitting on let out a squeak as another body joined her on it. She looked over to see the face of Ronnie Creeker half hidden behind a hand as he lit a lighter to light his cigarette. He didn't say anything as he took a short drag off of it before offering it to the younger girl. She took it from his fingers hesitantly, before bringing it to her lips and following suit, allowing the warmth to fill her chest as she handed it back. "You do know I'm not old enough to smoke right?" She asked as she handed it back. "If someone sees me with that..."

"Blame a bad influence and grief." He responded back to her as she looked him over more she noticed he had grabbed her sweater from the coat rack inside the door of the funeral home.

"I don't think that sweater will go with your t-shirt." She said simply as he smirked at her.

"Probably not, but the douche bag at the door said you had forgotten it when you came out, I told him I was going for a smoke and would bring it too you." Ronnie said letting his cigarette burn slowly as he held it between his fingers. "Thought I'd wait til you shiver or some shit and be the hero and give it to you." He had been the first person tonight to not speak to her as if she was about to break at any moment.

He handed her the sweater with his other hand, "Thanks," she said simply as she accepted it clutching the fabric in her hand, before wrapping it around her shoulders, not sticking her arms through it though.

"Really you should thank the door guy, I just didn't want to go inside. These places creep me out." He said simply leaning back into the bench causing it to squeak more as he became more relaxed in his place. He put the cigarette to his lip and exhaled the smoke above his head as she watched him.

The two could not have looked more opposite in this moment, he in a black t-shirt, jeans, and a flannel shirt leaned back almost stretched out a cigarette hanging from his lips, while she sat up straight in a black dress and heels with her sweater draped delicately over her shoulders, his hair standing in every direction while her was neatly falling over her shoulders. Though they appeared opposites she felt like no one was closer to her for that moment.

"Why'd you come then?" She asked simply as she readjusted herself to face him. He passed his cigarette back to her allowing her a second drag, which though she knew it to be an awful habit had been something she had began to desperately crave as the day continued on.

"Our mom's work together at the factory, she was coming to pay her respects, I thought I'd tag along, prove I'm not just a heartless asshole like she thinks I am." He said as he held out his hand waiting for his cigarette to return to his hands. He smoked something stronger then she did but she honestly didn't mind at this point, though her minty menthol's would always be her vice his selection wasn't bad.

"I'm pretty sure you are though, I mean if I remember correctly you didn't much care for my brother." She said as she handed him the cigarette back, her fingers brushing against his.

"Yeah well, he had a pretty chill little sister who doesn't need to be alone in the cold." He didn't look at her as he said it but she felt the cold chill of the tear that ran down her cheek as he spoke about him in the past tense, just as everyone had been today but in the moment it hurt down to her core. She found herself staring at the senior boy as the tears ran down her cheeks, while he never averted his gaze from the sky above their head, simply offering the cigarette back to her by raising it in her direction.

She however didn't accept his offer, instead she stuck her arms through the sleeves of her sweater and brought them up to her eyes to wipe away the few stray tears still trying to escape down her cheeks. "Thanks." She mustered to squeak as finally reached over and brushed his hand once more as she took the cigarette from him.

She took a final drag before handing it back almost burnt completely out as she stood up. Smoothing out her dress as stood, she didn't say anything else to the boy as she walked past him and back into building, she shrugged off her sweater and handed it to the man at the door that the funeral home director had placed their to deal with opening and closing the door and taking coats, she didn't stop to thank him as she knew she should for sending the Creeker boy out their with her sweater instead she walked into the Chapel where her mother and stepfather had been almost the entire day as she waited around in the lobby, she walked straight to her mother who was looking into the casket and wrapped her arm around her shoulder as she also looked at her brother's peaceful state. She felt her mother return her embrace as in that moment nothing else existed. Not the crowds of sympathetic people, not the casket, not the boy who reminded her it was okay to grieve, just her family what was left of it.


End file.
